Why Gays Should Carry Guns

By Jennie Rothenberg Gritz

In the December 2012 Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg challenges the conventional argument against gun ownership: "Anti-gun activists believe the expansion of concealed-carry permits represents a serious threat to public order. But what if, in fact, the reverse is true?" His article imagines an America in which law-abiding citizens are allowed to carry concealed weapons on trains, on campuses, and in movie theaters.

Here, Goldberg discusses this idea with Jonathan Rauch, an Atlantic contributing editor and a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution. In 2000, Rauch wrote a provocativearticle for Salon arguing that more gay people should arm themselves. He explains his reasoning to Goldberg and talks about the dual need for better gun control and more guns.